BEIRUT (Dispatches) — More than 190,000 people have been displaced in southern Syria over the past month amid fierce sectarian clashes and escalating violence under the control of the Al-Qaeda-linked Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the United Nations says.
UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said the majority of those displaced are from Sweida and Dara’a provinces, as well as the southern outskirts of Damascus, where intercommunal violence and HTS-led crackdowns have intensified since mid-July.
“Access constraints and limited resources mean much more is needed to meet people’s needs,” Dujarric told reporters, noting that only 120 people have so far returned to their homes, mostly in Sweida’s Salkhad District.
HTS forces, led by former Al-Qaeda and Daesh commander Abu Muhammad al-Jolani, entered Sweida city on July 15 following a sharp escalation in local disputes between Druze militias and Bedouin fighters. The group, designated as a terrorist organization by the UN, has faced mounting criticism for rights abuses and repression of minority communities.
Clashes have significantly disrupted aid operations, Dujarric said. The main humanitarian route to Sweida was temporarily closed over the weekend, delaying deliveries and evacuations. Though reopened on Monday, the highway linking Damascus and Sweida has remained blocked since July 12.
The violence has placed severe strain on already fragile healthcare systems in Sweida and Dara’a. “Maternal health services, trauma care and chronic disease management must be urgently scaled up,” Dujarric warned.
According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, more than 1,000 people — including 47 women and 26 children — have been killed since July 13. The group said the death toll rose sharply after HTS forces entered the region.